Comment: Khan carousel the main reason for improved Tests performance

DUBAI: After losing all four games in the limited-overs formats on the trot, there was a definite and sudden turnaround in the fortunes and performance of the Pakistan team in the first Test match against Australia.

The question that burns is: how is it that performances have improved so much in such a short time against what is virtually the same side?

It is not that the Pakistani side has brought in a better set of players, as most of the one-day side was retained and, except for the addition of Younus Khan, there are few who can be considered exceptionally better than those that took part in the white-ball contests.

Perhaps then, the answer lies in the old cliché that Pakistan’s whole was greater than the sum of its part, thanks to better team spirit.

It may be that the recent ODI humiliation proved to be a catalyst for the side to gel in the face of adversity. Or it may just have been a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

In the absence of Shahid Afridi — retired from Test cricket — the players rallied behind a unanimous leader in Misbahul Haq, whereas in the ODIs, Afridi’s status as a senior member of the side meant that he too commands a lot of sway in the dressing room.

As admitting this may upset a valuable asset of their team in Afridi, the team management will deny this – especially with the World Cup around the corner – but the atmosphere has certainly seemed less tense since the Tests started.

The covert power struggle between Afridi and Misbah came to a head when the former, leading the line in the final ODI after Misbah decided to sit it out, stoked the flames regarding the captaincy going into the World Cup, but all speculation was quickly snipped in the bud by a stern Shaharyar Khan.

The Australians, known for their efficiency and ruthlessness on the pitch, sensed the disharmony in the Pakistan squad and capitalised on it. Cricket is a team game, and all players need to be on the same wavelength if a team is to succeed at this level; unfortunately, that was not the case in the ODIs.

Younus the difference

The arrival of Younus, eager to prove the selectors wrong for excluding him from the ODIs, breathed a new lease of life into the team. In Younus, Misbah has a senior player and a model professional who has no interest in the captaincy and came with a point to prove.

Younus’s record-breaking 25^th and 26^th centuries were a much more effective statement than his outburst to the media, and since he has shown that he can still be a valuable asset to the side against a potent Australian attack, he will now surely be considered for the World Cup on the bouncy pitches down under.

Additionally, both Sarfaraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shahzad, two of the only shining lights from the batting in the ODI side, have brought their form into the Test, with Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali also coming in and providing some much-needed steel in the middle.

The five days of the Tests, along with the four defeats before them, have highlighted the importance of the team, and the management must ensure that Pakistan – Younus, Misbah and Afridi included – are in the right frame of mind come the World Cup.


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